Let’s improve the Reliability and Sound of this Princeton Reissue
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- The Princeton is a good amp off the showroom floor, but like all mass-produced amp manufacturers run by Accountants, savings had to be made in both areas of sound and reliability. The owner of this amp loves his Princeton and authorized me to toss out those cost-saving measures and make this amp what it should have been.
You don’t have to own a Princeton Reverb Reissue to benefit from this two-part video. If you have Deluxe Reverb Reissue, I suggest you watch both parts all the way through. Same for any of the Hot Rod series.
As usual, I will answer (almost) every genuine question or comment. As usual, I will ignore any comments by trolls.
Please do me a favour by giving both videos a LIKE and consider SUBSCRIBING if you benefit from the effort I put into the recording and editing of these videos.
Thank you
Chris
Video Index for PART ONE:
00:00 Introduction
00:22 Overview of this amp
00:40 The Speaker recommendation and speaker lead issues
02:17 Tubes discoloured
03:22 Overview of the work to be performed
09:25 Input stage filtering is a problem-in-waiting
12:05 How to deepen the tremolo 16:38 Improving the Mains Earth
19:55 Moving the Heater wiring and relocating the Hum Balance resistors
21:13 Moving the Screen Grid resistors off the PCB
22:40 Improving the Input stage filtering
24:00 Upgrading the Filter Capacitors and increase the capacitance
25:40 PART ONE Ends 
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I always learn something new from your videos, Chris. You and Psionic are the two best teachers on RUclips
That's very kind of you, Les.
I agree. Lyle is an excellent teacher and conveys his knowledge clearly.
As I re-listen to old TAVA podcasts occasionally hear you. I was the special guest at the beginning of episode 119 and I have learned so much from you. Thanks again Chris and cheers from Chicago.
Thank you so much. I love Skip! He is the first to say that he is not that technical, but he is a walking encyclopedia of vintage amps. I need to send him more voicemails.
Thanks Chris, this is beyond great.
Thank you, Mike. Thank you for allowing me the privilege to work on your Princeton and for trusting my judgment. I am looking forward to you hearing it "in the flesh".
Interesting video Chris and great info on how to upgrade the Princeton. Part II here I come!
Phil
Thank you, Phil. I always enjoy hearing from you. I see on the news that NYC has copped a bit of weather recently.
This channel is criminally underrated! Great content, great production value, super knowledgeable amp tech. How come the YT algo hasn't suggested this to me before? Anyway, here's a comment to hopefully help a little bit with the damn algo.
Thank you so much, Dazz. I accept responsibility and blame it on being OCD. It helps with amp repairs but I get bogged down with editing so my production quantity is too low to rank highly. Still, I am very grateful to those who are patient enough to stay with me between videos. Thank you for being one of those people, Dazz.
Good job mate! Looks like you've done all the standard reliability improvements to keep this girl goin for years n years! I like the earthing improvements you've done; self-tappers for earth leads you're bloody kidding!
Those Webbers are sposed to be about the best ay, so this customer is gonna be very happy with his amp.
Sydney huh? I'm only about an hour's drive north of ya!
Thanks Neville. An hours north of me (Kogarah, Sydney)? With Sydney traffic that means you're still in Sydney! LOL!
@@theguitaramptech Oh right! Yeah of course, if you're on the southern end of Sydney! No surprise there. Ya funny bugger! Let's just say I'm north of the Hawkesbury then! Tryin not to be too specific in a kind of paranoidish way. - Unlike yourself!
I had a pommy friend years ago from Kogarah that I've lost contact with. He's probly gone 'home'. But yeah as they say - "I wouldn't be paranoid if everyone would stop looking at me!"
@@nevillegoddard4966 haha! You have a great Tech up your way in Ivan Richards.
A very good evening to you sir and hope it finds you happy. More excellent work,many thanks
It’s great to hear from you, Bruce. What started out as the worst year in my life is rounding off very happy. My daughter was declared clear of cancer three months ago. Nothing could be better! Thank you Bruce
Jolly good show, ol' chap!
Also, don't discount the WGS ET10.
A fantastic driver for these amps with a bright guitar, but might benefit from a bright-cap with a darker humbucker pickup.
IMHO of course. Season to taste.
You mentioned that they wanted it less bright, so it may be the perfect driver for this customer.
Thanks, mate. I do like the WGS speakers in 12s, but I've never tried a 10. I have used heaps of Weber 12s, 10s even a 15. I don't think Weber could make a bad speaker if they tried. I don't like gambling with client's money, and I don't own a 10" amp so I will have to patiently wait till one comes in, or a client requests a WGS. I appreciate the suggestion, Brad.
Hey Chris, like another one of your subscribers has already mentioned, always something new to learn and glean from your excellent videos..Great info and tech tips..Love it, stay well..Ed..uk😄
It's always great to hear from you Ed. I think I would slip into depression if you stopped saying HI!
@@theguitaramptech...Hi, never..! You're such a breath of fresh air Chris, and your expertise is second to none,. Just so informative..Stay safe and keep teaching us cretins...😄 So pleased by the way Your daughter is ok..😇
Looking forward to see/hear the Weber when it arrives
#SHAZZYREPRESENTATION!
Ha! yes, I saw that you also get ribbed about the "shazzies", too. I have tried to say "CHassiss" but it makes me sound like I have a speech impediment. I should have a closer listen to Lyle's ( @psionicaudio ) pronunciation.
I’ve just started watching your channel and am enjoying the clips immensely. I am however, a little concerned with the practice of soldering the mains ground/earth wire directly to the chassis. This connection is the most important safety connection in the amp and I believe it should be made using a crimped and soldered connector, affixed to the prepared chassis with a bolt, star washer and nylock nut. Unfortunately, I have seen soldered connections break away from chassis. Fortunately this is rare but it does happen.
Hi Russell, Thank you for taking the time to make an intelligent comment. I agree 100% that it is the most important safety connection in the amp, and yes I have seen almost as many soldered connections break off as nuts and bolts.
Here’s why I don’t recommend the nut’n’bolt method, which you have already improved on.
1. Usually, the wire is only crimped and not soldered to the connector.
2. Corrosion and “gunk” WILL build up between the nut, washer, connector star washer and the chassis. When I use this method I follow your method after having cleaned all of the surfaces and then coat the whole connection system with nail polish to keep out moisture and gunk.
Here’s why I prefer my solder method:
1. I grind any corrosion-inhibiting coating off the chassis where I will solder.
2. I tin that cleaned surface with flux and use a 120w soldering iron. The weak point of most chassis solder methods is using underpowered soldering irons.
3. I tin the earth wire and then solder to my chassis “blob”.
4. Is there any chance of moisture and gunk getting under that? Not if you look at Fender amps from the 50s and 60s. Even so, I coat it with my clear nail polish.
Your method is certainly better than the mainstream. I have seen SO MANY loose connections, or with gunk between the layers. If everyone used your method, I wouldn’t need to do my method. I can’t recall if I showed all the steps in this video. If not I should do a video exclusively on this topic showing why your method and mine are superior to virtually every factory method
Thanks so much for the detailed reply Chris, I appreciate your time and effort. When considering both our opinions the common theme is that both methods need to be done correctly. Sadly this is not always the case. I do wonder if beginning amp builders, who may have limited soldering skills, might have more success with the nut and bolt method? It would be great to see you present this method- if you have time that is. Regards, Russell
@@russellorourke2242 yes, I agree, Russell. If a repair or builder does not have a powerful enough soldering iron, then a nut and bolt it’s more likely to give a trustworthy ground. Thank you for your intelligent comments.